The magical world of Harry Potter that originated from J.K Rowling’s fantasy book series has become a long-lasting legacy. The seven books spawned eight film adaptations that introduced the audience to an entirely new take on the use of visual effects in movies. The franchise that began at the beginning of the new millennium produced eight films over a decade, which altogether ruled the global box-office, earning hundreds of millions of dollars and won billions of hearts.
Emma Watson was practically the first crush I ever had (didn’t realize what a crush was though coz I was like 7 when I first watched Harry Potter). And she’s still as awesome she was then. Harry Potter still mesmerizes thousands of kids and adults alike, and now it’s time to revive it all in the heart of our readers:
The Legacy of Harry Potter: The Wizarding World
For almost a decade, the Harry Potter film series remained the highest-grossing film franchise of all time. The film franchise alone grossed $7.7 billion at the box-office, and this does not even include the new Fantastic Beasts prequels that have now spawned a whole Wizarding World franchise. It was only after 2012 film The Avengers that Marvel’s enormous Cinematic Universe (MCU) took over the number one box-office spot, followed by the revamping of Star Wars Saga with The Force Awakens (2015). Still, the Wizarding World is the third-highest-grossing film franchise of all time, and the upcoming Fantastic Beasts films have the potential to take out Star Wars from the no. 2 spot.
But the legacy these films have created and the money they have made (and still making over merchandise) it is highly confusing to rate a movie as favorite. And if you’re looking for an ideal criterion to decide a favorite Harry Potter film, you can’t just decide it over reviews, ratings, and box-office collections. I mean, Prisoners of Azkaban never made that much money as the others, but it’s pretty close to my heart. We met Gary Oldman’s Sirius Black in that movie for the first time, it was our first altercation with the significance of a Patronus Charm, and we saw our favorite stars all grown up. In fact, it was that film that broadened Harry Potter’s world and expanded it out of Hogwarts and its walls.
However, we might have a whole new kind of aggregator exclusively to learn more about Harry Potter films from an entirely different perspective.
The National Holidays Poll: Harry Potter in Numbers
Aggregating a combination of audience and critics poll, National Holidays, a British travel company, has created an online portal of an analysis of most favorite or the most magical film of Wizarding World. The criterion to judge Harry Potter films in numbers doesn’t only include the box-office performance, but also the newness every film brought to the franchise. It tells you which creatures appeared in all these films individually, which spells were the first cast in each film, how many wands and magical beings we encountered in each film, etc.
National Holidays has a special connection with Harry Potter. The agency organizes a full-fledged tour of the Warner Bros. Studios in London that takes people right into the making of Harry Potter and live the legacy of wizards and witches of Hogwarts. Though I can’t take you on that tour with this piece, I can surely get you on board with the “sacred” trivia of Wizarding World.
Factors of Wizarding World Trivia
The poll refers to six different categories to account for the most magical film of the franchise:
- Box-office Performance: A detailed comparison of collections against the budget, thus calculating the Return of Investments.
- Audience Reception: A comparison of Users and Critics Ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, followed by an average of the two.
- No. of Magical Terms: A poll of how many times words like Potter, Voldemort, Muggles, etc. can be heard in each film.
- Spells: A poll of the total number of spells we encountered in each film along with the number of unique spells in each film (with spell names).
- Creatures: No. of creatures appearing in each film.
- Magical Items: No. of magical items such as brooms, wands, and cloaks appearing in each film.
The Facts: Organized and Analyzed
1. The Most Favorite Film
The poll takes an average of Audience & Critics’ Ratings to decide the best film. As I said, Prisoners of Azkaban, despite being poorly received at the box-office (only in comparison to the others, it made more than $796 million otherwise) was the best film throughout the series, until Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 was released.
Prisoners of Azkaban was rated 90% fresh by critics on Rotten Tomatoes, while the audience rated it at 86%; recording an average of 88%. Until the final installment, no other film ever crossed it in both criteria. However, the final chapter in the series received widespread acclaim with 96% critics’ ratings and 89% audience ratings, taking the average to massive 93%.
The reason probably was that it was the last of Harry Potter. People were already waiting for the epic conclusion. J.K. Rowling’s take on Snape’s storyline was the cynosure of the film and probably the cause of such massive popularity. That one scene alone immortalized Snape and even Alan Rickman himself among the audiences.
Unfortunately, despite bringing back a younger Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) and Johnny Depp on board as the main antagonist, Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald has the lowest approval of 46% on average, accounted from a record low of 37% critics’ ratings and 55% audience ratings. Ironically, it also the lowest-grossing film in the franchise.
2. The Most Profitable Film
While we all know Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 did the best business, but it’s only the second-most profitable film. This is because while it made more than a billion dollars, it took an enormous amount of money to produce it in the first place. Else how’d they have shot the Battle of Hogwarts? The most profitable film is the Chamber of Secrets, the second film of the series. The film had a relatively higher collection, recording 1255% ROI over producers’ investments. Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 returned 1225% of the money. It’s a huge difference.
3. The Most Magical Film
Looks like Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 gained a little mathematical advantage in the poll. Since it was the last installment, it had to be more significant in every aspect. How can it not beat others in terms of magic? It wouldn’t be a magical movie at all.
Well, firstly, there was the most number of magical items in the movie, thanks to the final battle scene where more than a hundred wands are appearing on-screen. Besides, we had creatures like Dementors, Goblins, a Dragon (Ukrainian Ironbelly), and Giants emerging as magical creatures. The poll says there were 80 of them in total. Surprisingly, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them had the least number of creature appearances totaling to only 9. It definitely didn’t live up to its name.
4. The Film That Saw Most Magic
While Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 wins over the number of magical things, the most magical film of the franchise is Order of the Phoenix. Firstly, because of the iconic Dumbledore vs. Voldemort duel in the final moments of the film. Then there are magical spells uttered one after the other in the Room of Requirement as Harry becomes the Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher for Hogwarts. And of course, the short-lived battle at Ministry of Magic that ended with Sirius’ murder at the hands of Bellatrix Lestrange.
In total, 46 spells were cast in the film including spells like Diminuendo, Reducto, Protego, Expecto Patronum. It was the first time we got a closer look at everyone’s Patronus charms altogether. Characters like Neville, Luna, Arthur and Molly, and Remus were given greater prominence in the film with others, leading to a fantastic ensemble uniting at the end of the film.
Despite being the introductory installment, Philosopher’s Stone had the least number of spells cast with a total of 8.
5. Most Artefacts
Philosopher’s Stone got the spot here with 15 artifacts appearing in the film. It was probably because we were introduced to the magical world for the first time. There might have been countless artifacts practically because even the roof of the mess hall at Hogwarts was magical. The prominent ones were the Wizard’s Chess, Sorting Hat, Mirror of Erised, and Cloak of Invisibility, which we also saw in the future Harry Potter films.
6. Love for Harry Potter
Harry Potter himself is referenced several times in the films. There are several moments we have witnessed where a creepy voice whispers, “Haaarrryyyyy,” during the series. But it was Chamber of Secrets that accounted for 58 utters of Harry’s name.
On the other hand, his nemesis Voldemort received most fame 42 times in Order of the Phoenix under his aliased such as “He Who Shall Not Be Named” or “You Know Who” or “Dark Lord.”
My Personal Favorite
While the audiences preferred the final installment as their favorite, I loved Order of Phoenix the most. Why? Because it was highly intense. That was the one where the story took turns to become a magical war movie. It was Order of the Phoenix that began the exciting battle between Voldemort and Harry and their consciences as well. It was the first time we witnessed many bold moments and saw the wizardly potential of all the significant characters exposed. The film’s cinematography showcases a darker current and tone that makes it more interesting to watch.
Harry training his friends, Weasley brothers bombarding that exam room, the creation of Dumbledore’s army, Dumbledore’s stylish escape from arrest, and the devastating murder of Sirius Black; all these scenes encapsulated the best and bold moments of the franchise. It was this film where students were depicted as real wizards for the first time who can commit to a greater cause than Hogwarts itself. And then, of course, as Voldemort’s return is confirmed in the end, it forms the base of future films – the revolt against the Dark Lord.
While we can always argue between critics and the audience’s views, National Holidays has done a great job, especially for the nerds who call themselves Potter-heads. It’s not just about the tally, but you can also revise back all the spells you must’ve forgotten over the years. Though MCU has taken over the box-office with 23 films to its name and boatloads of investments from Disney, Harry Potter is the franchise that established the base for continuous storytelling in films.
What’s Your Take:
Hit the comments section and tell us which is your favorite Harry Potter film and why you love it. What do you think of rating Harry Potter in numbers of its own elements? And join PopWrapped on Instagram and Twitter to keep up with our daily dose of trivia.
